2005Frank Hadden was named as head of Scotland's temporary coaching set-up following the sacking of Matt Williams. Hadden, who had been in charge of Edinburgh for four years, was assisted by Hugh Campbell (Glasgow), Steve Bates (Borders), Sean Lineen (Glasgow) and George Graham (Borders) as Scotland prepared to take on the Barbarians in Aberdeen and Romania in Bucharest.

1989Stuart Barnes scored all of Bath's points, including the late winning try, as the West Country outfit ran out 10-6 winners over Leicester in the Pilkington Cup Final at Twickenham.

1972 Ireland beat France for the second time in three months in a friendly. The game was arranged outside the Five Nations Championship, which wais left incomplete after cancellations of two Dublin fixtures owing to the escalating political problems.

1944 In the first meeting in history between Rugby League and Rugby Union, the former ran out 15-10 winners in a match staged at Odsal Stadium, Bradford. Eighteen thousand fans turned out to watch a game played under Union rules.

2003 Former Ireland international Michael Bradley was appointed as director of coaching for Connacht. Bradley, formerly a staff coach with the IRFU, took over from Steph Nel, who returned to his native South Africa after three years in charge of the province.

1953 Queensland unexpectedly defeated New South Wales 11-6 in Brisbane, their biggest win in the inter-state series for 17 matches and only their second against the Waratahs in five years.

1965 Coventry players formed a guard of honour for two of their distinguished England internationals, Peter Robbins and Bert Godwin, who made their final first-class appearances. They exited in style, helping Coventry trounce Bath 33-0, with George Cole scoring 15 points. Cole thus finished the season with more than 700 points, breaking the club record established in 1928.

1972 Gloucester beat Moseley 17-6 at Twickenham in the first-ever RFU club knock-out Final. The occasion was marred by the early sending-off of Moseley's Nigel Horton for punching.

2000 The Free State Cheetahs' fairytale season culminated in their first Vodacom Cup trophy when they beat Griquas 44-24 in the final at the Free State Stadium. Kennedy Tsimba's influence on the Cheetahs side was a revelation, with the lanky Zimbabwean collecting five man-of-the-match awards as well as the player of the series before scoring 19 points in the final as the Cheetahs earned their first domestic trophy in four years.